Upcoming show:
January 1-4, 2010.
Hilton Marks Center
Alexandria, VA
[Select Start] is returning to [MAGFest]!! I’ll also be sitting in a few songs with [The Oneups.] Look at the guest list ([Sid Meier] anyone?) and the band list ([Armcannon]! [The Megas]!)! Everyone should go!
More information to come soon. I’m very very excited.
November 21 2009 | games and music and performances and travels | No Comments »
“It is all a long way from the beeps and bloops of the first video games.”
I’m surprised it took, of all publications, the [New York Times] this long to write some variation of this sentence – namely using “long way” in combination with “bleeps and bloops.” Fairly nice article otherwise, though.
In other news, it’s time to find a new sentence, or just onomatopoeic sounds, to describe how evolved video game music and the culture such around has become, methinks.
October 28 2009 | games and music and musings | 1 Comment »
Upcoming show:
Friday, July 31, 2009 – 10pm
Smoke and Barrel Tavern
Fayetteville, AR
performing with The Oneups.
more information [here]
Back to practice…
July 28 2009 | games and music and performances and travels | No Comments »
The gmail music player produces better music file sound than my winamp.
Today, here is the music of a quintet from [Eminence Symphony Orchestra] (previously mentioned [here]) and Final Fantasy miscellany. Still thinking of finding the direct path to joining them. Still thinking of how I can turn into [Hiroaki Yura].
If you weren’t aware that these melodies were from video games, an anime, and a soundtrack to a novel, would you have thought that they were composed for such? Be honest…
Tracks: (all files uploaded onto zshare.net. Music is rightful property of the artists. I don’t own any of these…Please buy their music and support them.)
+ [Dash] (Romeo x Juliet) – Hitoshi Sakimoto
- performed by members of the Eminence Symphony Orchestra
- Short, but very fun to play. I don’t remember it from the series at all, but this version is charming and has an odd ending.
+ [The Fall of Darkness] (Kirite) – Yasunori Mitsuda
- performed by members of the Eminence Symphony Orchestra
- Kirite is an irresistible album. I recently arranged this piece for Select Start and was sincerely afraid that we would read through it once and then forget about it. After all, from a market standpoint, the piece is risky, being from an unfamiliar not-video game. However, the opposite happened and after two readings, they actually really wanted to put some solid work into it. So we’ll see how far this goes!
+ [Estrelas] – Nobuo Uematsu featuring Risa Ohki
- from the Final Fantasy: Love Will Grow vocal album, sung to the melody of “Gilbert’s Harp” from Final Fantasy IV
+ [Cosmos] (Dissidia : Final Fantasy) – Your Favorite Enemies
- Yet another strangely resolved piece. Interesting lyrics.
June 05 2009 | Uncategorized and games and music | No Comments »
While going over past posts in order to organize the [new page], the fact came to my attention that as much as I write about music and performances on this site.blog.webspace, I’ve never actually posted up any recordings involving myself.
Don’t get used to it. There are more through [myspace] anyway.
Here are some personal tracks, edited a little by yours truly, unless otherwise noted:
+ [Title] – from Megaman III
- A large majority of my recorded sound is through [that band] I play with. I really like this recording, arranged by David Yasensky, guitar.
+ [Green Hill Zone. Marble Zone] – from Sonic the Hedgehog
- Because that first one is a bit short. Also arranged by David and featuring solo work by Kanako “Kiki” Sueyoshi, violin, on the second melody. You can get our CD for free on our [website].
+ [Boy Aims for Wild Fields] – from Secret of Mana
- I talk a lot about [The OneUps] here and should write a post of their music someday soon. But for now, this is a collaboration from a [MAGfest VI] rehearsal back in 2008, featuring OneUps bassist/keyboardist/producer/monkey trainer [Mustin] on bass and musician extraordinaire [Kunal Majmudar] on drums. The beginning is a little shaky as we try to find a decent tread.
+ [The Vagabond] – composed by Tyzen Hsiao; rearranged by Maho Azuma and me; performed by Maho Azuma (flute), Christine Lee (piano), and me (violin)
- Back a summer or two ago, Select Start was asked to perform in one of the university cultural assemblies. Sadly, the majority of the members were out of town so we re-arranged this tune for anyone still in town. Tyzen Hsiao is one of the more prolific Taiwanese composers, and the piece just worked out nicely overall. This was recorded during a later Select Start rehearsal, which accounts for the background noise that I apologize profusely for… The three of us are looking for another opportunity to re-record it in a silent setting.
+ [Eternal Harvest] (from Final Fantasy IX) – Christine Lee, piano
- So this one isn’t me at all but I have to pass on this recording whenever I have an excuse to because it’s so pretty. Christine is a rather significant inspiration in my life. For starters, she played my junior recital better than I did and then decided to go and be a doctor after all. This is from the very first Select Start CD ever.
May 31 2009 | games and music | No Comments »
I’ve kind of been hiding this, but it seems to be getting around the Internets lately anyway so what’s the harm.
Here it is – the [Womengamers.com] interview (on behalf of [OCRemix]) in all it’s glory. Though I’m not particularly a fan of my own answers (I didn’t think he was going to publish it verbatim…), I’m very quite honored to be on it with such accomplished ladies as [Jill] and [Nicole]. Many big thanks go out to [Larry Oji], M. Brandon Robbins, and [Jeriaska]…
February 26 2009 | games and music | 2 Comments »
In the world of revolutions, an individual is probably never quite sure when they are involved in one until it ends. In the ever-growing, ever-changing world of video game entertainment media, just about every step is deemed “revolutionary.”
The label is almost always debatable.
But hardly anyone can disagree that the [Child's Play Charity], run by super-popular webcomic (and something of a webcommunity) [Penny Arcade], is a major step in polishing away some of the spit, flack, and rancor that video games receive from narrow-minded politicians, analysts, psychologists, or other such figures of so-called authority. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Child’s Play, the Seattle-based charity uses the money from donations and merchandising to buy games, books, and toys, and money for sick children in around 60 hospitals primarily in North America, though recently they have begun global expansion to around eleven hospitals. Over 3.5 million dollars have been donated towards these hospitals since 2003, with over one million of those dollars donated in 2008 alone.
Child’s Play dares you to say that gamers don’t give back. The charity is growing in name, recognition, efforts, and more and more hospitals are partnering each year. This year’s annual auction dinner, which took place just earlier this month, boasted over 400 attendants, collected $200,000, and also saw the release of the very first Child’s Play Charity CD – with all proceeds going to the charity, of course.
The CD is by far one of the cheapest pieces of merchandise out there when you weigh price against content. Most of the tracks were exclusively written and/or recorded just for this CD by some of the biggest names in video game music such as [Jake 'virt' Kaufman] – composer of the Contra 4 soundtrack, [MC Frontalot], [Freezepop], [Jonathan Coulton], and [some][dear][friends]. Oh, and my band tossed in a track too. We couldn’t think of a better way to help promote such a fantastic cause than through the one thing we love doing best.
But none of this would have been possible without the hard work of my good friend [Mustin], who engineered and produced this project with some tremendous skill. I certainly think that given the quality and caliber of these recordings, his efforts and dedication certainly paid off. However, I am also severely biased so [here] are some samples for you to decide for yourself. And then maybe buy one for yourself and everyone you know.
Bring on the revolution.
The Child’s Play Charity CD can be purchased [here]. For more information on Child’s Play and participating or fundraising, check out their website at [http://www.childsplaycharity.org] or [this] cute little information page.
December 26 2008 | games and music | No Comments »
I’m not used to being friends with rockstars. In fact, the situation is entirely weird sometimes. Granted, [The OneUps] aren’t exactly rubbing shoulders with those people appearing on the VMAs, but [Wil Wheaton] [isn't exactly someone you get to chum around conventions with everyday.] Coming off of yet another fantastic performance at [Penny Arcade Expo], the boys didn’t skip a single beat and released their second album – a two-disc affair known simply as Volume 2 – on September 2.
For some fans, this album could not come out fast enough. No one denies that the wait was well worth it.
But as I listened to the work of my friends and tried to be as impartial as possible, I could only marvel at the serious work that they have accomplished in the year (and then some) since we [first met] and wonder what the heck I did to even deserve a mention in the liner notes of such a significant achievement (in the history of video game cover music, at least.) These guys won’t stop at just fantastic, and I, as a musician, have to thank them for that, their inspiration, ambition, and – of course – music. I am incredibly lucky to call these guys my friends. With this album and their most recent show, The OneUps have claimed the full right to be ridiculously proud of themselves. For a little while, at least.
As for the album itself, let’s just say that as I listened to it during my search for a new bookbag, I drove worse than I ever have, parked better than I ever have (which is saying a lot), and for the first time that I can ever recall, found myself contemplating a lingerie section (I did not purchase anything from that store.)
I haven’t listened to the second CD yet, and probably shouldn’t do that when I drive out later tonight.
Many thanks go to the lady of zabe.net for her adorable photography. Volume 2 is available through the OneUps’s [myspace] and website. Rumour has it that the guys are already sketching ideas for Volume 3. Congratulations.
September 12 2008 | games and music and waffle | 1 Comment »
Well, it’s been officially a month or so since I returned from Taiwan. I have one last leg of “Fallback” to cover before I can move on to my Taiwan travels, but I seem to have lost all the schtick I typed up in Taiwan to catch myself up.
Lovely.
So while I am searching, I’m going to leave these three songs for you all to enjoy in the time being. I haven’t written a music post in over a year anyway. Shame on me, really. All three are of of Japanese origin but I promise you that they were randomly selected by my music player. Hope you enjoy!
All files uploaded onto savefile.com. All music is respective property of the artists’ and their company. I don’t any of these. Don’t sue me, please… Buy their CDs and support them!!
——————————————–
+ [Niji] – Kazunari Ninomiya
- While Japanese boy band pop is not exactly my favourite genre of music, I’ve slowly come to admire the group [Arashi]. Unlike many other groups, the members of Arashi seem to have concrete personalities and multiple talents, making them somewhat less easy to toss aside than other groups that have been produced by the ever-entertaining and amusing (though exemplary business empire) [Johnny's Entertainment]. If I had to blame one person for my descent into the fangirl universe, it would be Arashi’s [Kazunari Ninomiya] (affectionately called “Nino.”) A fair actor well known outside of Arashi for his drama roles and even in Hollywood as a soldier in Clint Eastwood’s Letters to Iwo Jima, Nino’s singing has greatly improved over the years. His dancing on the other hand – well, we’ll see. The lyrics for “Niji” were written by Nino himself and in concert performances of the song, he sometimes plays piano. This particular song is one of my personal favourites for its emotional range…and violin solo…
There are many songs I want to recommend by Arashi, but I think I’m just going to make an entirely Arashi post someday instead.
+ [Kane wo Narashite] – Bonnie Pink
- [Bonnie Pink] (original name Asada Kaori) is less famous than she should be. Though she has a successful career, from singing anime songs to multiple collaborations with the insanely popular hip-hop duo [m-flo], there is not much glory or celebrity surrounding her and her unique, talented voice. This song was used as the opening music for the recent video game [Tales of Vesperia] and I can’t stop listening to it.
+ [Brand New Breeze] – Stella Quartet (from La Corda d’Oro)
- This song introduced me to that element of life known as “obsession.” I fell in love with this quintet arrangement of the anime [La Corda d'Oro] opening song “Brand New Breeze” (by [Kanon]) on the airplane en route back from Taiwan, but could not find it anywhere when I got an Internet connection back up. In fact, the CD on which it was originally released (a special St. White’s Day edition OST) seemed to be all sold out too. I can’t recall how I finally found it, but I must have listened to it about twenty times in a row after that – and then started to arrange for myself. This arrangement is a true example of how to arrange music from a standard pop song into a beautiful chamber piece.
A few side notes: The original “Brand New Breeze” was based around Edward Elgar’s “Salut d’Amor,” a ridiculously famous violin solo piece. The fashion in which this piece is integrated into both the pop song and the quintet arrangement is just adorable. Also, I have never seen or played La Corda d’Oro. The first book of the manga was cute, but I’m too busy to keep with it for now…
August 16 2008 | games and music and travels | 2 Comments »
Bossman has certainly made this blogging window very spiffy since I last came here. I’m way behind. But given that I travel yet again tomorrow, I figured I’d better catch up before another grand adventure.
This year has been the year that staying in one place has been a luxury.
I suspect I will end up writing about three or four posts today heheh…
Anyways…continuing in this giant recap of life and cities (which will be kept far less detailed now): I had been to Seattle many years ago with family en route to Canada. All I could recall of it was the airport. Unfortunately, Seattle will still be lacking in my mind because this time I only got to spend two days there, most of which was concentrated on the second day’s audition. Nonetheless, there were still many amazing moments to cherish.
The weather was surprisingly warmer than I expected while all the jokes about overcasts and rain are true. [norg] (aka George aka our sound engineer from [MAGfest]) picked me up from the airport and upon returning to his place, I met Matilda (who I inevitably ended up calling “Miss Matilda” the entirety of my time there), a 145-lb. St. Bernard who thought she was still a puppy. The sound of her running across the floor resembled that of thunder, but she was truly special and sweet. Naturally, George and I spent a grand amount of time that weekend discussing music, the nature of the video game music community, and discussing several hack collaboration plans. In many ways, I felt like I was visiting the OneUps again, except just one of them…living in the mountains…
After the audition the next morning at the University of Washington, we took a necessary, but very nice drive through the cool and laid-back streets of Seattle to the ridiculously gorgeous [Benaroya Hall] to catch the [Seattle Symphony Orchestra] performing for [Play!]. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this performance was that I had been playing for and watching [Video GamesLive] just a day and a half before (see previous post.) The [rivalry] between these two video game orchestras is not entirely unfounded, but more than anything else, I found it to be unnecessary. Both orchestras aim for the same goal of promoting video game music, but they both approach it in very different manners; Video Games Live in a more interactive, youth-oriented fashion and Play! in a very classical, formal concert setting. Neither approach is more right or wrong than the other as they both have upper hands in some elements and shortfalls in others and can cater the same message to two very different audiences. If anything, Play! can be considered more “educational” while Video Games Live would be the class field trip to a science museum.
While congratulating him and orchestrator Larry Kenton after the concert for a fantastic Guild Wars suite, I got a chance to speak to [Jeremy Soule] himself ([Marty O'Donnell] of Halo fame was standing just a few feet behind us.) and he asked about, then agreed with most of my views and comparisons. We discussed the concerts and he professed nothing but love and respect for VGL and [Tommy Tallarico]. Both he and his brother (and occasional partner in crime, I understand) Jason seemed rather interested that someone had been able catch both Video Games Live and Play! in the same weekend. I couldn’t help feeling like a diplomat. Mr. Kenton gave me some lovely insights into the studio recording world and name-dropped a whole bunch of people I really hope my subconscious absorbed. I also became reacquainted with [Shnabubula] (who I had heard play at MAGfest), but my favourite meeting of the weekend was his father, who truly embodied my friend Russell’s claim that Seattle is such a hip city that even the “older people” are hip. I’m not sure I’ve ever met another person of his age with such a simultaneous air of amusement and wisdom about the world around him.
In terms of the actual concert itself, it was most definitely the most expensive concert I had ever attended. My wallet cried a little, but my heart rejoiced (aided by the fact that the teller was quite cute and charming) after hearing the spectacular opening rendition of “Liberi Fatali” that left me gripping my chair for fear of running onstage and just joining them. There were many program parallels between Play! and Video Games Live, but I was very glad to be introduced to some new compositions, such as the aforementioned Guild Wars suite (with a gorgeous violin solo that I really want to try out) and Battlefield 1942. Somewhat sadly, the SSO’s interpretation of a Kingdom Hearts suite (God bless you, Yoko Shimomura…) did not bring me to tears as the VGL orchestra’s had (and I blame proximity, really), but principal oboist [Ben Hausmann] (if he indeed was the one playing that day. If not, then whoever was playing principal oboe that day…) tore out my heart and soul with his amazing solo. The music may have been from a video game, but the solo was performed as emotionally and beautifully as if it had been from Ravel’s “Tombeau de Couperin.”
With not enough time left to carry out plans to visit the original Starbucks at Pike Place, the day was capped off by relaxing at George’s place (or as much relaxing as can be done when a giant bear of a dog is trying sit in your lap) reading Atonement (which I had started in Orlando) before my red-eye flight back home. En route to the airport, we stopped at this little restaurant with an extremely valid claim of “the best clam chowder in the world”, and then participated in the only tourist action of my entire trip: a loop on the road to look at the breathtaking Seattle night skyline.
When I arrived back in Florida, I noticed that in my huge weekend of meeting some of the most significant names in the American video game music industry, I didn’t take a single autograph or buy any merchandise – but had given out almost all of my cards and gotten lots in return. Oops?
Also, how on earth does Firefox think that “Starbucks” is a misspelled word? Silliness.
June 04 2008 | films and games and music and travels | 1 Comment »